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Education & Training
In addition to providing health care services for people who have experienced a recent sexual assault, we offer training and resources for health care providers and other professionals.
Provincial Health Care InitiativeWe help communities throughout B.C. improve their capacity to respond to sexual assault by:
- Sharing resources with health care providers (protocols, forms, handouts and pamphlets).
- Assisting in the development and implementation of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) and physician led sexual assault programs.
- Coordinating and delivering an annual provincial SANE training program.
- Training health care providers to care for sexual assault survivors in a hospital setting.
- Promoting an integrated model of care that supports partnerships between health, legal, and community-based programs including specialized services such as Aboriginal, youth, and multicultural support services.
Provincial Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) TrainingWhat is a SANE?
A SANE is a nurse who is specially trained to provide comprehensive and sensitive health care for survivors of sexual assault.
The SANE is trained in all aspects of sexual assault examination, including crisis counselling, physical assessment, documentation of injuries, forensic evidence collection, provision of medications, writing a medical-legal report and testifying in court. The SANE works closely with community-based sexual assault centre staff, police, and emergency department staff.
SANE History
In 1992, our program coordinators attended a SANE training program in the U.S. Based on information gathered here, we developed the first SANE training program for B.C. and trained nurses from Surrey Memorial Hospital in November 1993. We implemented our SANE program in 1994, with Victoria starting a program in 1995, Abbottsford in 1996, and Nanaimo in 2004.
Becoming a SANE
Each B.C. SANE program is responsible for hiring nurses for their individual programs. Once the nurse is hired into a specific SANE program, she can complete the SANE training. We coordinate an annual provincial SANE training program. The six-day long training program is held in Vancouver.
The SANE Training Curriculum
- Philosophy of patient centred care
- A survivor’s perspective
- Medical-legal options of care
- Obtaining informed consent
- Gathering patient medical and assault history
- Physical assessment
- Documentation of injuries
- Forensic evidence collection
- Genital examination
- Medication treatment for sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy prevention
- Drugging in sexual assault
- Cultural diversity issues
- Youth
- Writing a medical-legal report
- Testifying in court
For more information on becoming a SANE, establishing a SANE program in your community, or about BC Women’s SANE training, please feel free to call (604) 875-3284.
Conferences Sponsored by the Sexual Assault Service
Violence and Women’s Health Conferences The BC Women’s Sexual Assault Service and BC Women’s Woman Abuse Response Program sponsor a two-day conference in cooperation with the University of British Columbia’s Department of Interprofessional Continuing Education. Offered approximately every two years, the conference brings together professionals who work with issues involving sexual assault and violence against women in relationships.
This conference meets the accreditation criteria of the College of Family Physicians of Canada, and has consistently been approved for 19.5 MAINPRO-M1 credits (note: this is reviewed each conference).
Coordinated Response to Sexual Assault SymposiumsIn November, 2002, and March, 2004, the Sexual Assault Service collaborated with the Vancouver Police Department and the Provincial RCMP Forensic Lab to present full day interdisciplinary forums on medical-legal aspects of sexual assault.
Strategizing for Safer Communities for B.C. Aboriginal WomenThis two-day forum brought together Aboriginal women concerned about violence against women in their communities with provincial health and anti-violence organizations, policy makers, and funders who share these concerns. The Pacific Association of First Nations Women, the BC Association of Specialized Victim Assistance and Counselling Programs, and BC Women’s Sexual Assault Service, Woman Abuse Response Program, and Aboriginal Health Program organized the forum.
Strategizing for Safer Communities for BC Aboriginal Women
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